In fall 2022, the College of Natural and Mathematical Sciences at UMBC and the University of Maryland School of Medicine (UMSOM) received a five-year, $13.7 million grant from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to enhance recruitment and training of junior faculty and promote inclusive excellence at UMBC. Since then, UMBC and UMSOM teams have been planning programming for the incoming FIRST (Faculty Institutional Recruitment for Sustainable Transformation) cohort, undertaking faculty searches, and otherwise preparing for their new colleagues’ arrival. 

As of this fall, four new UMBC faculty members and three new UMSOM faculty have been selected, with three more to be added at UMSOM. Two of UMBC’s hires are busy doing research, recruiting students, and settling into their new positions. The other two will officially assume their roles in January, but they are already visiting campus and starting to set up their laboratory spaces. 

In November, the leads on the grant from both institutions and all the new hires gathered at UMBC for a reception to celebrate their first semester and build community among the cohort.